Symtomax to sue Bond Review over third party comments

At the time Symtomax’s bonds were being promoted by third party introducers on social media who claimed the investment offered “asset backed security” and was “Brexit proof”. I pointed out that like any individual corporate bond, the investment was in reality very high risk with an inherent possibility of 100% loss.

A number of comments were subsequently made underneath the article.

Last month Symtomax’s lawyers, Brett Wilson LLP, contacted me to complain about pretty much all the comments left under the article, as well as some minor discrepancies in the article itself. (The two discrepancies consisted of describing Symtomax’s director as a current rather than former regulatory official, and misattributing a Symtomax competitor’s market capacity to Symtomax itself, an error which came from one of Symtomax’s third party introducers.)

The law in the UK is very clear on the position when somebody complains about anonymous comments somebody else leaves on your website. To summarise, you contact the poster (if possible), and ask them to supply their real name and address to be passed to the complainant. If they demur or can’t be contacted, you remove the content at issue, or become legally responsible for it as if you posted it yourself.

All but one of the posters declined to provide their details and their comments were duly removed. The exception was a comment left by David Marchant, who runs the news website Offshore Alert from the USA, who stood by his comment and provided his full name and address.

This was duly provided to Brett Wilson LLP, who then proceeded to pursue their claim against Mr Marchant. Right?

Well, not if you inhabit the alternate legal reality of BW. They have given notice of their intent to sue me over Mr Marchant’s comment anyway, on the grounds that

it is not “reasonably practicable” to sue Mr Marchant in the USA

the US courts will not enforce a UK libel judgement in the US

the continuing presence of Mr Marchant’s comment, which mentions Symtomax directors by name, constitutes a violation of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Brett Wilson LLP have also demanded that I remove all content relating to the clients, despite my review being entirely factual, notwithstanding the minor corrections made. That Symtomax is a high risk investment scheme with an inherent risk of 100% loss is a matter of objective fact.

Brett Wilson describe themselves on their website as “a leading firm in defamation, privacy, harassment law, white-collar crime and regulatory/disciplinary work”. Yet they claim they are going to sue me because it’s too difficult to sue somebody in the United States. Right.

Nor does the GDPR change the fact that Mr Marchant remains responsible for his comment, having provided his full name and address so he can be sued over it. Any information I hold on Symtomax’s directors is in the public domain, as is the case for any director of an investment scheme promoted to the public.

Advalorem Value Asset Fund was shut down by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission in 2014 “to protect the interest of participants and potential participants” and wound up. Brett Wilson LLP are at pains to point out that while Coetzee was found by the Supreme Court “to have failed to act with due skill, care and diligence”, she was not found to have acted dishonestly.

Coetzee was also governance and compliance director of Privilege Wealth, a supposedly “low risk” minibond scheme which collapsed in 2018.

Privilege Wealth achieved one of the most notorious legal victories for an unregulated investment scheme when it successfully sued David Marchant – that same David Marchant – in the UK over an article he published claiming Privilege Wealth was fraudulent.

Marchant declined to turn up in a UK court, relying on the fact that UK libel judgements are not enforceable in the US. The judge therefore awarded victory to Privilege Wealth – and had no choice in the matter. But the judge went further than simply awarding a walkover, endorsing Privilege Wealth as “clearly not a fraud”. Less than a year later Privilege Wealth collapsed and its administrators described it as a “possible Ponzi scheme”.

The damages awarded against Marchant and the costs incurred by Privilege’s lawyers (Lewis Silkin LLP in that case) remain unpaid, and are unlikely to ever be paid.

Perhaps Privilege Wealth’s (entirely hollow) victory over Marchant in a UK court has given Symtomax’s directors a misplaced sense of confidence that they can sue people willy-nilly in the UK and win. Who knows.

What happens next?

I don’t disclose my full identity on request, and for the same reason I don’t disclose it because somebody has made up a load of nonsense about it being impossible to sue people in the USA.

But that doesn’t mean I’m immune from responsibility and Symtomax do have the right to demand that I defend myself in court. As I have declined to voluntarily give up my identity, this involves Brett Wilson obtaining an “unmasking order” against me, also known as a “Norwich Pharmacal Order” after a famous legal case.

Brett Wilson’s expertise in Norwich Pharmacal Orders is there for all to see. When Googling “unmasking order”, the third result – effectively top after the ubiquitous Wikipedia and paywalled Thomson Reuters – is Brett Wilson’s helpful summary.

Which misspells “Norwich Pharmacal”. Twice.

The kind of expertise and attention to detail that £15,000 plus VAT just can’t buy.

Now, I don’t want to give the impression I’m being flippant about Symtomax’s right to take legal proceedings (judges don’t like it, being lawyers themselves) by laughing at unimportant typos. It just feels a bit like someone “sending the boys round”, and when the boys arrive on your doorstep they’ve got their shirts tucked into their underpants.

If I was the kind of person who’d cave in over a legal threat as flimsy as this one, Bond Review wouldn’t still be here after two and a bit years. If Symtomax insist on wasting their investors’ money on making me stand by my review, I will.

I wish we had loads loads loads and loads of more people like you in the world calling it out with nothing but facts and more facts – I have kept my comment very simple as you explain everything in the same way – no noise – I am an utter fan of your blogs – keep your integrity and keep doing what you are doing and saying exactly what. It does not say on the tin in these circumstances (not secure whatsoever speak) – having been scammed big time myself I am flabbergasted we have no-one. Absolutely no-one else looking after us

“…the costs incurred by Privilege’s lawyers (Lewis Silkin LLP in that case) remain unpaid, and are unlikely to ever be paid.”

I hope Brett Wilson have learnt from this and are charging Symtomax in advance, not in arrears. Unless of course they have carried out due diligence on the business and have decided it is so financially robust there is no need.

I was going to donate a while back but I hesitated because you are anonymous. But after these threats from Brett Wilson LLP, to both you and your posters, I am more than happy to do so. No one likes to be threatened with legal action, especially for reporting the truth, so it’s little wonder why you don’t want your identity made public. Same goes for your readers.

You have a soul-crushing role at times but your efforts are hugely appreciated. Thank you for being the guy who is not going to wait for someone else to fix the problem.

All the information in our articles was correct as at the timestamp at the top of each article. Do let us know in the comments if anything is out of date.

The information provided by this website consists solely of either a) statements of factual information or b) generally accepted investment principles. Nothing posted here should be considered financial advice or an opinion as to the suitability or unsuitability of any investment.

Before deciding whether or not to invest in any financial product, readers should either take professional advice from a regulated adviser or ensure they are able to make a fully informed decision themselves.

The information on this website does not constitute a financial promotion. Nothing on this website invites or induces anyone to engage in investment activity. No direct links are provided to the investment opportunities on this website. We receive no commission or any other payment from any business or investment reviewed here.